Being one of your donors has been such an enriching experience and I think I’m that much of a better person for it.

I was chatting to my mum just the other day and I was raving about how awesome my skin gets – all glowy and acne free – when I’m on the injections and growing my dozen.

She asked me if that’s why I donate and I chuckled.

The conversation got a bit more intense though. She asked if I didn’t feel like I was cheating her and my dad by giving out the secret recipe so to speak.

I told her that I donated mostly because a recipe that good is worth a share. She wants grandchildren so bad…

I told her that somewhere out there, there’s a woman who wants a child just as badly. That this woman probably has a mother who wants a grandchild just as much and for a while they thought they would never get what they so desired.

Then someone told them there was a way.

It feels so good to know that I could bring happiness and a blessing to a family and that in some little way, if I decide not to have children of my own – my family’s legacy will live on. Not in the genes… but the legacy of kindness, compassion… the legacy will shine in the eyes of a mother to her child and her child to her elders.

I’m sad to close this chapter. I will definitely keep telling my friends about Nurture. And if there’s anyway I can help (minus the eggs) I would love to get involved.

We are still in a ‘surreal’ moment and not quite believing it! But it seems the numbers don’t lie and our doctor is pleased with everything. He doesn’t want any other bloods for now so we just wait for the scan now.

You know, we absolutely adored you and Melany and we could really feel how genuinely you wanted this to work for us. So maybe all those positive vibes rubbed off!

We also had a coffee with Tertia and she just said all the right things too. She was rapt with our news as well and I am very happy to kickstart your working week with some good news! No actually….some great news!!

We will definitely keep you all posted with our progress. You have been such a huge support for us. I know I’ve said it before, but you beautiful ladies seriously have the greatest jobs in the world and you do it to perfection!!

Nurture’s Tertia Albertyn attended the recent ESHRE conference – one of the world’s leading infertility forums. Here she tells about the meeting, and what the trends are.

What is ESHRE, and why did you go?

ESHRE is the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, and their meeting was held this year in London. It is now the world’s leading event in reproductive medicine, and has more than 9 000 experts attending, with many presenting a huge range of research and development into infertility.

My reasons for going were two-fold – one to learn (there are hundreds of academic presentations on various fertility topics, which this year included everything from how to identify abnormal embryos, to how music could improve IVF success). However, my main reason was to network with the various doctors, scientists and technologists from all over the globe

Were there a lot of South African representatives?

There weren’t any other egg donor agencies there, but there was quite a large South African contingent of doctors and technicians.

Is there a next big thing in infertility treatments?

I would say the next big thing is around being able to select the ‘best’ embryo for transfer. And by ‘best’ I mean most likely to result in a pregnancy and live birth. A lot of work is being done in this area. In addition, there is quite a big focus on perfecting the ‘low-cost ivf’ which will save people a lot of money and also make fertility treatment more accessible for those who would otherwise not be able to afford it

Do you think that from what you see overseas, that our fertility clinics are world class, or on a par with what leading UK and US clinics?

Our fertility clinics and doctors are certainly on par and in some cases even ahead of their international colleagues. We have fantastic fertility/infertility medical competencies in this country

Was there much about egg donation covered?

There was a very interesting presentation about research into a single dose, long acting stimulation drug brought out by Merck. This could be really useful for egg donors as it is far less invasive and it is also cheaper in the longer term, which means it has benefits for the donor egg recipients as well. You can read more about it here.

How is Nurture doing in the UK? Do you have enough donors? How is that process of egg donation compared with the one here?

It is still early days, but our UK program is doing very well. We are always in need of more donors as the waiting list for eligible donors is so long.

If there are any young women in London between the ages of 20 and 34 who would like to donate their eggs, please encourage them to visit our site here.

My wonderful journey with Nurture began five years ago when I found an ad looking for suitable woman to donate eggs, I immediately contacted Melany and she came to meet me at my office. It was love at first sight – her big personality filled the tiny room and her smile lit up the entire place. In a nutshell, she’s just fabulous!

We had a wonderful chat and I couldn’t wait to get on board. I completed my application form and soon after I was asked to donate. I was over the moon because helping someone to conceive was one of the best gifts I could give. Five years later I’ve donated four times with Nurture, and 10 August will mark my fifth and final donation.

I would really like to thank each one of you, for supporting me through this wonderful journey and making it possible for me to give the gift of life to our wonderful recipients. I wish I could donate a million times more but unfortunately I can’t.

I’m truly blessed that I got the opportunity to work with you wonderful ladies and together we made a difference. I hope that our paths will cross one day again, I’m so passionate about donating and I truly believe that this is my true calling.

You girls are super stars! May god bless you ladies with many more beautiful donors and successful donations.

First of all thank you both very much for my gifts. Most of all thank you for your kind words in the card. I have stuck the card up on the cupboard in my bedroom. I read it every day! I am proud of myself, this is without a doubt the most rewarding thing I have ever done!

It was the first time I had ever been under anaesthetic in my life and I was so scared of it (way too much time spent watching Greys Anatomy). My family all prayed that everything would be alright and it was.

On the morning of the retrieval I was a lot less nervous than I thought I would be.

I changed in to one of those not to attractive hospital gowns, climbed onto the bed and felt so calm and ready. I remember the anaethatist apologizing for the needle going into my arm and I laughed and said it is nothing compared to all the injections I had been giving myself.

The doctor rubbed my arm comfortingly and the next thing I was awake with a hot water bottle on my tummy and a muffin in front of me.

I gave my Mom an extra big hug from you because she really was there for me every step of the way. As soon as we got home I was ordered to the couch with a blanket and a bowl of warm oats

I am SO excited to hear about the eggs! I didn’t get any feedback so this is the first I’m hearing of it! 13 eggs! Wow!

I hope your embryo transfer goes well today. I will be thinking of you. I can’t wait to hear good news in two weeks!